Murtha: the Virtue and Vice of Congress — David Paul Kuhn

Jack Murtha was the virtue and vice of Congress. He was an old-school pol, the very archetypal backroom Washington dealmaker often derided today. But here was also the disappearing representative many long for: the lawmaker who crossed party lines and got his work done; the politician not easily classified as left or right; the everyman who fiercely served his country in war and in office.

In this era of paper-thin politicians, this was a substantial and complicated character. Murtha was a political grunt in an age of flyboys. He was known for the ugly and the good. And it’s why his death, Monday at age 77, tells a story of not only his life but also a fading era of American politics.

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